To Follow or Make a New Path
by Jedi Jelsa777
Summary: In this semi-AU/AU world, Lucy is college bound, where she runs into an old friend. Both of them feel pressured by their families to join the family businesses. Will they fall into the footpaths that their families have set for them? Or will they make their own?
1. Chapter 1

Lucy Heartfilia smiled as she stared at the entrance to the college she would be attending for the next few years, Fairy Tail. She may have picked it because of its name, or maybe it was the mascot. Fairy Tail had chosen a dragon as it, possibly to draw in more guys with a name some might feel was to girly or kidish. Why was a dragon so important to her? It reminded her of the last summer she had felt like a kid, the last summer her mother was alive. Okay so it was more than that.

The year her mother died her father had been distraught and left the business runnings to his underlings and shut her out. During that year the underlings ran the business into the ground and ran off with the money, putting them deep in debt. But that summer before, when her mother was still alive, they had spent at the beach house that her mother had loved. She sighed, someday she wanted to live there, to buy it back, just to have a bit of her mom in her life.

She had a few things, that had been her mother's, each of them precious, but she remembered how a lot of their happy moments had taken place there and how her mother never stopped smiling the whole time she was at the house. But there was something else that had happened that summer, it was the year she had met Natsu Dragneel. They had been fast friends, he didn't mind playing with her, one of their favorite things to do was make sandcastles and use their toys to act out medieval scenes.

Natsu's favorite had been a red dragon, he loved to pretend to have it breathe fire at the towers, or sometimes it was the dragon protecting the castle, but no matter which it was, his dragon always protected Lucy's main toy. Just like he protected her the time some bullies started teasing her in the town nearby. The memory washed over her, she had just exited the bookstore with another book about the stars, when she ran into Fukuro.

He had sneered at her and called her a bookworm. She tried to ignore him as usual, but for some reason, this time he grabbed her book. Lucy had begged for him to give it back, but he was taller than her and held it just out of her reach as he laughed. Suddenly a fist met his chin and he dropped the book, Lucy catching it with ease and pulling it to her chest to keep him from grabbing it again. Natsu stood and front of her and told Fukuro if he didn't want another punch to leave. Surprisingly, the bully actually listened to him and Natsu turned and gave Lucy a smile.

Besides Natsu, that was the year they had adopted Michelle Lobster, the daughter of her mother's best friends. Her parents had died in a car wreck earlier that year and it had been in their will for Layla to take their daughter in if she was willing. Of course Layla had been and had easily convinced Jude to go through with it. If it hadn't been for Michelle, Lucy didn't know how she would have made it through those first few days after losing her mom. She never made Lucy feel bad about crying over one lost parent when she had lost both, something Lucy appreciated more then she could have ever said.

She shook her head, clearing her thoughts. She hadn't seen or heard from Natsu since that summer, her life had been so crazy since then. Once her father started living again, he had thrown himself into his work, working hard to pay off the debts he owed and get his family back to where they had been. The name Heartfilia was starting to finally be associated with them again, something she wasn't too keen about. She was glad to be in Magnolia for school, it gave her that distance from her father that she desired.

Michelle had come with her and they had gotten an apartment together, Lucy bringing her little dog Plue along. Michelle had also enrolled in Fairy Tail, taking the culinary program that it offered and a few business classes in case she opened a restaurant somedaey. Lucy was majoring in business to appease her dad, but it was her minor in creative writing that she was most excited about. Lucy dreamed of being an author one day. And once again she had to shake her head, she had to get moving or she would be late for her first day of class.

She sighed, knowing it was one of her business classes, but she got her feet to get moving towards the building that housed it. Lucy had to use her phone to pull up a map of the campus, she had been unable to make it to the Orientation Day and had no clue where everything was. Michelle and herself had gotten a late start and had only barely got their apartment together last night so there had been no time for exploring the campus to get acquainted with the layout. She hoped Michelle was able to find her classes easily.

If she thought about it, Lucy was a little jealous of Michelle. Michelle was getting to follow her dreams of being a chef someday, while Lucy was wanted by her father to take over the business. The thought caused Lucy to frown, for it brought up one of the many arguments she and her father had had. Before Michelle had announced her intentions to be a chef, Lucy had tried to tell her father that she wasn't interested in the business, that maybe he should see if Michelle was, but he had said that it wouldn't do as Michelle wasn't a true Heartfilia, had even kept the last name of Lobster. Lucy had pointed out that the Lobster name was just as important at one point as their own, but her father would have none of it.

Lucy found herself at the door to her class and she entered, taking an empty seat near the back and on the aisle. She hadn't really looked at her seat mate before she sat, but once she had her things situated, she turned to introduce herself just as he did. Both stared at each other in surprise, before the boy said "Luce? Is that you?" "Natsu?!" They were about to say more when the professor started talking. "Meet me after class." Natsu whispered, before they both turned their attention to the front, or at least tried to.

XXX

Lucy and Natsu exited the building together after class and made their way to a bench not too far from it. Neither had another class scheduled for that morning, so they decided to sit awhile and catch up. Natsu knew that had happened with her mom and the family business, how could he not since he was from the same class level they had been at the time. He wasn't sure how to start up a conversation with her, but he didn't have to. "How's Happy doing?" she asked, earning a smile from Natsu as he loved his Russian Blue Cat. "Happy is doing great, I'm surprised you remember him since I got him only a few days before you left the beach house."

Lucy smiled and said "I remember everything from that summer, well pretty much everything. It was the best year of my childhood. I gained Michelle as a sister and you as a friend." She didn't add it, but Natsu also knew that was the last year her mom was alive and therefore everything about that year would be important, especially the presence of her mother. Natsu had been adopted by his father, Igneel. Later Igneel had married Grandeeney, bringing her daughter from a previous marriage with her.

Natsu had tried to get Wendy to change her last name to Dragneel like her mom had done, but Wendy had said she liked it when people called her Miss Marvell, made her feel like a superhero she would say with a wink. Igneel had also adopted Natsu's older brother Zeref, but he rarely saw his brother these days. He had basically become the black sheep of the family, though his girlfriend, Mavis, had gone to Fairy Tail University and had suggested that Natsu might like it. Natsu would have to thank her for the advice later, it had led to him seeing Lucy again.

"Still interested in the stars Lucy?" he asked. "Oh yes, I've thought about taking some astronomy courses, just for fun, but I feel I've already got a lot on my plate, maybe next semester. What about you? Do you still sing?" she asked. Natsu blushed and said "Actually you're the only I ever sang for. If I'm alone or whatever I do still, but you were my only audience." Lucy looked at him and shock, replying "Really? You were so good even then, I remember you saying you wanted to be a singer when you grew up."

Natsu rubbed the back of his neck and said, "Yeah, but since Zeref isn't really business material dad really wants me to take over for him someday. He's done so much for me, I don't know how to tell him I'm really not that interested in it." Lucy nodded and looked out over the campus as she said "I get it, I'm pretty much in the same boat, though why I care about what my father wants me to do I don't really know. Maybe it's the memories of how he was before Mom died…" she trailed off and Natsu didn't force her to continue, he got it.

Over the next hour they discussed various things about how life had been. They were happy to learn they were actually in the same apartment complex, in the same building even. Natsu was just a floor below them, having brought Happy with him. His apartment was a bit bigger and he shared it with two of his friends from back home, Gray Fullbuster and Gajeel Redfox, the last of whom had brought his cat called Lily with him. "Actually, I'm supposed to meet them and a couple other friends for lunch. Want to come with me?" Natsu asked.

"Sure, we can pick up Michelle on the way if she wants to come too." Lucy answered with a smile. Natsu barely remembered Michelle, she had joined the Heartfilia family only in their last week at the beach and he had been pretty preoccupied with Happy at that point. Still he had a picture with the three of them and Happy that Igneel had taken and he thought he might be able to recognize her from it. He was wrong, Michelle had changed a lot since he last saw her, but her friendliness was something he did remember and that hadn't changed at all.

The three chatted about the first impressions of Fairy Tail and the walk to the cafeteria passed quickly. "Wow Natsu, you're already making time with the ladies?" said a guy with black, short hair. Natsu growled and said "Shut up Gray. Actually Lucy is an old friend of mine and this is her sister, Michelle." "Would this be the Lucy we've heard so much about?" asked a girl with red hair. "I hope its all good things." Lucy said with a laugh as Natsu nodded.

Then Natsu said, "Allow me to make the introductions. Everyone, this is Lucy Heartfilia and Michelle Lobster. Lucy and Michelle, this is Gray Fullbuster, Gajeel Redfox, Erza Scarlett and Levy McGarden. We're waiting on a few others, but they should be along shortly." Greetings were exchanged, as well as explanations of the sister's different last names, as Natsu's other friends joined them. First Juvia Lockser arrived, followed by Jellal Fernandez. Finally Loke Asad joined the group.

"So this is the famous Lucy, so nice to finally meet you." Loke said, causing Lucy to both blush and role her eyes, he said it so dramatically it made sense that he was there for theater. Levy was majoring in Creative Writing so it was possible she and Lucy would have some similar classes and she was already getting along great with her. Lunch passed quickly and they all made plans to meet again the next day for it. Natsu and Lucy had very similar schedules and their next class was the same as well, so they headed off, not in any rush since it didn't start for another hour. The class after it Michelle would be joining them, so they used this time to catch up some more, before Lucy asked, "So what made you choose Fairy Tail out of all the other schools out there?"

"My brother's girlfriend, Mavis, she attended Fairy Tail a few years ago and she thought it would be a good fit for me. How about you?" Natsu said, returning the question to her. Lucy blushed and said "You have to promise not to laugh!" Natsu raised an eyebrow but did as she asked. "Well besides the name, it was the mascot that drew me in. It reminded me of our friendship, all those times playing in the sand, you and your favorite dragon toy and how you always protected me, whether in play or for real." She said softly, not daring to look up at him.

Natsu nearly stopped walking, he remembered that toy, in fact he still had it for the sole reasons of his memories of her, his best friend for a summer. It was currently sitting on a shelf in his apartment even, too cherished to leave behind. Lucy, thinking his silence meant he was trying to keep from laughing blushed harder, worried that their friendship had meant more to her then he could possibly understand. That is, until he said "I brought it with me, it has so many memories attached to it." She looked at him and he smiled down at her.

"I'm glad that we got to meet again Lucy, I've always wondered where you ended up. I kept trying to find you, but typing in Heartfilia just brought up the old family business and later the new ones." he said, "I missed you." "I missed you too, Natsu." She said with a smile, before entering the door he held open for her.

XXX

After classes were done for the day, Natsu, Lucy and Michelle walked home from school together, Natsu inviting them to stop at his apartment to see Happy. Both girls agreed, remembering the cute kitten and they couldn't wait to see how he looked now. As they entered Natsu's apartment, Happy pounced on Natsu's feet, happy to see his friend home again. "Oh my gosh, he's as cute as I remember him." Lucy said, putting a hand out towards Happy, who sniffed it and Michelle's. Almost as if he remembered them, Happy rubbed up against their legs purring, earning grins from all three of them.

In fact when they took the seat Natsu offered them on the couch, Happy curled up on Lucy's lap, purring as she pet him. "We can't stay too long, I have to go walk Plue, my dog." Lucy said, though the thought of disturbing Happy or leaving Natsu so soon made her a little sad. "I can do that for you Lucy and I've got some stuff for culinary class to work on, perhaps I can bring it down when I'm done and then we can all work on our business class stuff together." Michelle offered.

Lucy smiled her thanks at her sister and said "Sounds good to me, is it okay with you Natsu?" Natsu shrugged and said "Sure, but don't be surprised if most if not all of the others you saw at lunch are here when you get back, we all got apartments here and so I don't know who will be stopping by." "That works out great actually, I have a lot of things to test and I was worried about the food going to waste. Maybe I'll sent up a thing where if you guys give me X amount of money and fridge space I'll cook your meals for you." Michelle said.

"Wow that would be awesome, would you be up to it?" Natsu asked, which Michelle smiled back and said "Well I want to open my own restaurant someday and be it's chef, so I'll call it good practice. I'll let you guys know the night before if I can't make supper the next night for some reason, sound good?" Natsu nodded and Lucy said "We'll tell the others about it as we see them for you Michelle, or you can just announce it at dinner, Natsu can text them all to come I'm sure." Natsu was already pulling out his phone to do just that as Michelle hollered out her agreement.

After she left, Natsu and Lucy worked on the work from their first two classes, finishing it rather quickly. "So Lucy, what do you really want to do that you're holding back on because of your dad? Does it have anything to do with your Creative Writing course?" Natsu asked, reaching out to give Happy a chin rub. Lucy nodded and replied "Yes, I want to be an author someday. Who knows, maybe I can do it on the side while running the family business."

Natsu smiled and said "Well I think that if you can write the stories half as good as you can make them up on the spot, like we did when we were kids, I think you will do great." Lucy smiled her thanks, then the door opened and the first wave of Natsu's friends arrived, making themselves at home while waiting for Michelle to join them. Lucy's phone went off, it was Michelle asking for help carrying things. Levy and Erza volunteered to help too, as did Juvia who ran into them as they were on their way out. Soon the girls returned with Michelle and lots of food.

Everyone dug in and gave their compliments to Michelle, saying how amazing it all was. They quickly agreed to her suggestion of money and fridge space, all sitting down to budget and give out any allergies they may have so she would know what not to fix for them. Michelle herself was, ironically, allergic to any seafood, minus a few types of fish. Lucy smiled around the room, already comfortable in Natsu and his friend's company. This school year was looking up already.

**I looked up names that meant lion/had lion in the name and Asad was one. I did this since Loke/Leo didn't have a last name and Loke Leo (my original plan) looked weird to me XD so for my story Loke's last name is Asad.**

**Also the Michelle Lobster in this story, I picture her being Lucy's doll/Imitatia's version of Michelle Lobster, not the Michelle found by Gildarts and Laki in the hospital/real Michelle Lobster.**


	2. Chapter 2

The first month in school had them all settling into a comfortable routine of school, homework, for some of them jobs, and of course their nightly meal together, usually only having one night, if that, where Michelle was too busy or didn't feel like cooking. They would still eat together, they would just go to a nearby restaurant that had a table with enough seats for them all or someone else would cook, though nobody did as good of a job as Michelle.

Lucy did study days with different people, most days it was with Natsu, sometimes with Michelle joining them, and some days she did it with Levy. If she felt like she needed something really pounded into her brain, she would have Erza or Jellal quiz her. All in life while not easy, she wasn't really struggling with college life. She volunteered at the library somedays, usually being sat at the desk where she would study until someone needed her.

One of those days, it had gotten dark out as she waited for her replacement to arrive. When they finally did, she rushed to get her things, knowing she was already late for supper. It was being held in their apartment this time, which meant she was supposed to help with serving and cleaning up, she would have to apologize to Michelle. As she exited she heard someone yell, "Hey Luce, wait up!" Turning, she saw Natsu jogging towards her.

"Natsu! What are you doing here?" Lucy asked, happy to see her friend. "Well it was getting dark and Michelle was worried about you walking home alone, so she asked one of us to go meet you, so I volunteered, looks like I got here just in time." he answered with a smile. "Thanks, I was a little nervous about walking home alone." Lucy said, returning his smile. Natsu nodded and fell into step with her, reaching to take her things for her. Lucy smiled, Natsu had a lot of old fashioned ideas, but she remembered Igneel was the same way, it seemed a lot of his habits had rubbed off on his son.

"How is your dad doing Natsu?" she asked. "He's doing good, got married a couple of years ago to a lady named Grandeeney and I now have a step sister named Wendy Marvell. She's a couple of years younger than me." He said, realizing he hadn't told her about his step-mom or sister. "That's great, I'm happy for him. Do you get along with them?" Lucy asked with a smile. "Oh yeah, I don't even really call them my step mom and sister, unless I'm explaining the situation to anyone, we're super close." He sighed before continuing, "If only Zeref would join us, he has never really warmed up to them, let alone Igneel. Heck he hardly even speaks to me anymore, I hear from Mavis more than him."

"I'm sorry Natsu, I know how much you looked up to him when you were kids." "Thanks Luce. Hopefully one day things will work out, I would love to have a Christmas with all of us there together." Natsu said, a sad smile on his face. Lucy let out a sigh and whispered "Me too." Natsu knew that it was her Dad that she must be talking about, he couldn't picture Michelle not being with Lucy. He put his arm over her shoulder, surprising her and causing her to look into his face. "Someday, we'll both get that wish. I'm sure of it!" Natsu declared, earning back the smile Lucy had lost as she joyfully answered, "Me too!"

XXX

Days had passed quickly and it was the day before Thanksgiving break. Lucy and Michelle were hanging out with Natsu, Gray, Erza, Jellal, Juvia, Levy, Gajeel and Loke, enjoying a bit of time together before they went their separate ways. They had all just got done with a big study break, getting all their projects and work done so they could really relax over the break. Now it was their time to party, unlike a lot of their classmates they really didn't party that much, all of them were more focused on their grades.

They were in Natsu, Gray and Gajeel's apartment, Lucy had brought Plue down with her. She had been doing so pretty much since their first week, he got along great with Happy and Lily, and all the animals were brought to each apartment that the dinner was being served in. "It's hard to believe we won't be seeing each other for a week." Gray said. "I know, I've become so used to seeing you guys at least at supper time it will be odd not having each other around." Juvia said. "Well you might still see each other, I mean you live in the same town." Michelle said with a smile.

"True, but I have a feeling our families will hold us hostage for the week." Loke said, earning a round of laughter from everyone and nods of agreement as well. Lucy and Michelle hadn't told anyone, but it would be just the two of them for Thanksgiving this year, Jude had gone away on a business trip and wouldn't be back until possibly around Christmas, if then. They wished they lived closer to their new friends so that they could at least visit them on the other days.

Unbeknownst to the two girls, Natsu's dad had informed him of Jude being away. When Natsu had told his dad about running into Lucy and Michelle again his father had expressed his happiness, he had always like both girls, especially that Lucy. When he heard that her father wouldn't be with them for Thanksgiving, he had shook his head before calling his son and telling him to invite the girls to join them, after he had asked Grandeeney if it was okay of course, which it was. "Hey Luce, Michelle, I know its last minute, but my dad asked me to invite you guys for Thanksgiving break! He's been wanting to see you again since I mentioned you both."

Lucy and Michelle shared a glance and then nodded. "We'd love too, tell your dad thanks." Lucy replied for the both of them. "Or you can tell him when we get there yourself." Natsu said with a grin. "We might as well caravan together then, what time should we leave?" asked Gray. "As early as possible, I'm tired of school for now." Gajeel said. "Would 7 work for everyone?" asked Levy. "If we waited until 8 to leave, I can have a breakfast ready for us all by 7 and that will take care of any of the food we have left that will expire while we're gone." Michelle said.

Everyone agreed to this plan, not wanting to pass up a meal by Michelle. It was decided they would take three cars, because while they could all physically fit into two, they all had luggage to consider. Natsu whispered to Lucy he was debating on if they needed four cars since Erza always had a lot of luggage, but he shut up when he saw the red head glare at him. "For that remark Natsu, you can drive the car of luggage." She said, earning a groan from Natsu. Lucy giggled and volunteered to ride with him, since his car would have to be the last one to reach its destination. Michelle said she would join them when there was more room.

XXX

The next morning, after a breakfast fit for a king and hasty clean-up of it, everyone got ready to pile into the cars, Gajeel and Natsu taking motion sickness pills before doing so. The girls all got into one, minus Lucy of course and the guys, minus Natsu, got into another. All of them had thrown their bags into Natsu's car. Once they got the doors closed, which was a task in and of itself, Lucy and Natsu climbed gingerly into the front seats, not wanting to upset the balance of things. Then the caravan headed off.

Lucy and Natsu chatted about nothing in particular for a bit, before Lucy turned on the radio. One Republic's Kids had just come on, and Lucy found herself humming along. Suddenly she heard a beautiful voice start singing "I refuse to look back thinking days were better, just because they're younger days. I don't know what's 'round the corner, way I feel right now I swear we'll never change." Lucy didn't look over, because she didn't want him to stop, but instead enjoyed Natsu's voice as he continued singing. Even as a kid he sounded good, but now he sounded amazing!

She joined him for the last chorus, her voice not as good in her mind, but still they blended well. "You and me were kids." they finished the song together. "Wow Natsu", Lucy said as a commercial came on the radio station, "You sound even better than we were kids!" Natsu blushed at the compliment before replying, "Thanks Lucy." "You should go do some singing competition or just try to get a contract!" She stated, he frowned, though it was a necessarily unhappy one, before he answered, "I don't think I'm that good, besides I've got to prepare to take over the business for Dad."

Lucy sighed, she knew how he felt and that there would be no changing his mind, unless his dad encouraged him. Which wouldn't happen because his dad didn't even know that Natsu could sing, like really sing! The rest of the car trip was spent singing along to the radio, belting it out when they knew the words and muffled when they were just trying to pretend they knew the words, which resulted in a lot of laughs. Natsu turned the radio off as they entered Crocus, following the cars to the first stop, Levy's house.

Lucy cautiously helped her friend remove her bag before giving her a hug, one of many the girl received from all of her friends, before she waved and went inside, where she was greeted by more hugs. Next came Jellal and Gajeel and Lily, who lived across the street from each other. The next stop was Erza's, much to thankfulness of Lucy and Natsu. Loke was the next stop and Gray came and took his suitcase then and said his goodbyes before driving off. Juvia, who had been just driving along with Michelle in the car said her goodbyes there too before driving off in the same direction Gray had taken since it was the fastest way home. Michelle joined Lucy and Natsu and they headed off to the Dragneel home.

As they pulled into the drive, Igneel, Grandeeney and Wendy all piled out of the door, eager to hug Natsu and say hello to the girls. Wendy cooed over Plue, telling him what a good boy he was as well as scratching Happy behind the ears as she said "Carla is going to be happy to see you!" After greeting his son, Igneel turned to the girls and said "Lucy, Michelle, I can't believe how long it's been since we've seen you! You both grew up into such beautiful young ladies. Allow me to introduce you to my wife, Grandeeney." "A pleasure girls." The woman said with a kind smile.

The girls blushed at Igneel's praise of them, but both would admit they were happy to see him again. "Thank you for inviting us for Thanksgiving." Lucy said. "Of course, not a problem, we've missed you these last few years and I can't wait to catch up. How is your father?" Igneel said, not wanting to bring any sadness into the situation but knowing it was only proper to inquire after the man did he do so. "He's well, at least he was the last time I talked to him. He was going to be away for the holiday so thank you for inviting us." Lucy said, not being able to help thanking him once more.

"Woah, your dad is going to be away? I'm glad you're here with us!" Natsu declared, now knowing why his father had told him to extend the invitation. Not that he was complaining, but he felt a little sad for Lucy. It was almost like she lost both parents the day her mom died. In fact, that was how Michelle viewed and if she were honest, why she felt such a close bond to Lucy and never complained about her expressing the sadness of losing her mom. She really had lost her dad that day too, and while he may be living again, it was more of an existing, never really talking to Lucy or her unless planning their futures.

She caught Natsu's eyes and could tell he was thinking pretty much the same thing she was thinking about her sister, her sister of the heart. Lucy missed the exchange, pretending to be interested in the house next door that was for sale. "Let's get everyone inside, it's a bit chilly out here." Grandeeney said, "In fact, why don't Wendy and I show the girls to their rooms? And I can show you the easiest way to get outside from them so you can walk Plue, Lucy." "Thank you, that would be great." Lucy said, while Michelle added her own thanks. Natsu could tell it was really that his dad wanted to talk to him, otherwise they all would have shown them the house.

It wasn't very big, not compared to others with their wealth anyways, but it did have several guest rooms and wasn't going to be mistaken for your typical Fiore home either. It felt even bigger after being in their apartments for so long. Once father and son were alone, Igneel turned to his son and said "It pains me to see Jude still so shut off from the world as he was right after Layla died. I tried getting him to let us visit him, so that you could comfort Lucy as I knew she was your best friend, but he kept coming up with excuses."

"I can't believe he won't even join Lucy and Michelle for Thanksgiving!" Natsu declared, "If you hadn't happened to find out that he was going to be away on that business trip, they would have been all alone and they weren't even going to say anything! How did you find out?" "I was invited to the same location, it was basically a couple of companies wanting to work things out so they could use each other's expertise at a cheaper cost and split the profits. Even though I declined I still received a list of who was going for some reason. Knowing how many companies, as well as which ones, are involved, I wouldn't be surprised if the girls joined us for Christmas too." Igneel answered.

Natsu stared at him before saying "Surely he'll come home for Christmas!" "I don't know son, he has really buried himself in his work since Layla's death." Igneel stated. Natsu looked down at the floor, before suddenly hugging Igneel, surprising his father. "Thank you for never letting work get in the way, dad." Natsu said. Igneel smiled, returning his son's hug as he said "No problem, kiddo."

XXX

Lucy walked by Natsu's room and, since the door was open, she looked in to see if she saw him. She watched as he reverently pulled a blanket from his bag and place it on his bag, a blanket she remembered. That summer when they were kids, it had been Natsu's cape many times during their adventures. "I can't believe you still have the blanket, I mean I remember you saying it was important and trying not to get it to dirty, but I thought it would have dissolved or something by now." Lucy said, a soft smile on her lips.

Natsu had turned in surprise at the sound of her voice then started rubbing his neck as he chuckled and said "Well Igneel did give it to me the day he adopted my brother and I and brought us home. I should probably stop using it, to keep it safe as it is getting rather worn, but I can't help myself. It's like I'm getting a hug from my dad every time I use it." Then he blushed and added, "Please don't tell the others about it, I just know they would tease me about it!" It was Lucy's turn to chuckle and she replied, "I won't, it will be our little secret."

Natsu smiled his thanks and joined her outside his room before they went downstairs to join his family and Michelle. Downstairs they were joined by Wendy's boyfriend, Romeo Conbolt, whom introductions to Lucy and Michelle were made. Then they moved into the dining room where they had a late lunch which was enjoyed by all. Classes were talked about and they learned that Wendy wanted to one day go to Fairy Tail as well. Of course Romeo said then that that would be fun, earning knowing looks from everyone but Wendy.

After lunch, everyone went their separate ways. Wendy and Romeo went into town for a movie date, Michelle went into the kitchen to talk to the Dragneel's cook to learn a few things and Natsu went to lie down, tired from the long drive. Igneel gave his wife a kiss on the cheek and said he had to do a quick business thing, but he would be back in time for supper, so Lucy found herself alone with Grandeeney. Feeling a little embolden, and hoping it wouldn't ruin her friendship with Natsu, she asked "Have you ever heard Natsu sing?"

Grandeeney nodded her head and said "Oh yes, and he is quite good, though he doesn't know I heard him. I don't think he realized I was home and he had headphones in, but I was in the other room. He has a beautiful voice, I think he is wasting his talent by going into business." "I do too, but he thinks Igneel wouldn't be happy and all he wants to do is please the man who gave him so much!" Lucy said. Grandeeney sighed and said "I thought it must be something like that. How can Igneel give him a chance if Igneel doesn't know of his talent?"

After a moment of silence, Grandeeney said with determination "I will get Natsu to sing for us, somehow! I just don't know when that will be." Lucy smiled, glad that Natsu had someone like Grandeeney on his side.

**Besides a fanfic called Imperfect Lover by JazzyRocks78, what really inspired this story were several songs, one of which was Kids by One Republic, which is why I included it. I was actually mowing the lawn and that song as well as a couple of others (which will get mentioned at later dates and I will point them out when they do) kept coming up in my head and adding pieces to the story. So Kids, actually inspired the first part, where Lucy and Natsu were remembering their one summer together. Actually the best song for inspiration won't be until much later, but JazzyRocks78 had a couple of words that brought the song to mind and so if you read Imperfect Lover you may be able to guess it and where this story is going (if it isn't obvious already).**

**Answers to Reviews!**

**FTAnt: I'm glad that you loved the first chapter and I hope this chapter continued the feeling of fun that the first one gave you :D**


	3. Chapter 3

The day to head back to Fairy Tail came and there were hugs and tears all around. "I'll be back for Christmas in no time!" Natsu said with a grin for his tearful sister. "I know, but I'll miss you until then." She replied, smiling through her tears. Natsu ruffled her hair, earning an annoyed, but still happy sound from his sister. With a few last waves, they piled into the car and drove out, first stop being Loke's house where Gray and Juvia met them.

Erza had sent a text message telling Natsu he wasn't off the hook yet and would be taking all the luggage once more on their group chat, so when they got their Loke threw his suitcase into the car. He was about to climb into Gray's passenger seat when Gray tossed him the keys to his car and said "Here you drive, I'm going to ride with Juvia." As he took her hand all of their mouths dropped and Lucy exclaimed, "When did this happen and why were we not informed?" The new couple chuckled and Gray answered, "Our families got together for Thanksgiving this year, remember? I asked Juvia to be my girlfriend that day."

Natsu dryly said "And another one bites the dust." But it was said with such a teasing tone that both Gray and Juvia knew not to take him seriously. Michelle climbed in with Loke, not wanting to get stuck with the lovebirds and yet knowing that Natsu's car would be very full of luggage, especially since Erzas's house was next. The red head loaded up her gear and climbed into Juvia's car, not seeming to mind being with them. They all would have given Gray and Juvia some privacy, but they didn't have enough cars to do so.

Next came Gajeel, Lily and Jellal's houses. Erza surprised them by hopping out of the car and running over to Jellal, kissing him on his cheek. Once again everyone's mouths fell open and Lucy asked when it had happened. "Thanksgiving day, he showed up after dinner and asked if I would be okay with going on a date that night. After the movie he asked me to be his girlfriend." Erza said, hugging Jellal with one arm and her head resting on his shoulder so she could face the group while explaining. Jellal joined her in what was now dubbed the couples car and they rushed to pick up Levy, who though surprised, offered her congratulations to the couples and hopped into the back seat of the other car with Gajeel and Lily.

"Wow can you believe it? Gray and Juvia and now Erza and Jellal are couples!" Lucy exclaimed to Natsu as they got headed onto the highway that would take them to Magnolia. Natsu shook his head, smiling as he said "Honestly, it's about time, they've been making eyes at each other since high school. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if we see Levy and Gajeel pair off soon too, did you notice their looks of longing?" Lucy nodded and said "Yeah, it would be so sweet to see them pair off too, they are such opposites but I think they would be good for each other."

Natsu agreed before turning on the radio, a different variation of Luke Friend's Hole in My Heart was just starting and it had a super catchy beat, Natsu immediately started singing. Lucy once again just humming at first, but shortly joining him, "Cause I need you so much I can't lose you, I need you to know. You might have gone but I'll never let go! Cause one day I know that you'll come back home, cause I won't let go. There's a hole in my heart, can you fix it? There's a hole in my heart, since you've been gone."

Then they both belted out, "Is this L-O-V-E? Somebody tell me what's happening to me?" Lucy started laughing, it was really fun to sing with Natsu and the moment just made her so happy, Natsu looked over at her and grinned. If he was honest with himself, it was nice to sing for someone besides Happy, it made him feel light, free even. Music had always been his wings.

XXX

As they got closer, Lucy started looking on her phone at the events that were happening around campus. Suddenly one caught her eye, they were going to hold a talent show the day before Christmas break! Since that day was a day off class basically anyways, it was going to be going on all day and anyone could enter until the cut off time of 8 pm. You could only enter once and you had a maximum of five minutes to do your talent. This would be perfect! Now if only she could convince Natsu to sing for it…

"Hey Natsu?" she said questioningly. "Yeah Luce?" he replied. "Fairy Tail is hosting a talent show on the last day of school before Christmas break, we should go at least watch." Lucy said, hoping to ease him into the idea. But by the look in his eye he had caught on to her thought pattern, however he simply asked "At least?" "Well maybe we could enter. I mean I think you could do better by yourself, heck you could probably win, but I would love to sing with you." she said, not daring to look him in the eye.

Natsu didn't respond at first, he hated what she had just done, even if she didn't know it. She made herself so vulnerable, to say no to the idea of singing with her would be, in Lucy's mind he knew, like he was saying he didn't think she was good enough to do it or that he saw her as less talented as himself, which honestly he thought she was just as good if not better. He sighed, raking his fingers through his hair as he said "I don't know Luce, I've never sung in front of a crowd before, what if I freeze up and leave you hanging? What if my nerves get the best of me and I can't carry a tune?"

She smiled, happy he hadn't said an outright no, before replying "Well if you leave me hanging I probably will be joining you shortly as I know my fear of being the center of attention would get the best of me, at least with you singing it won't be like all attention is on me. If you can't carry a tune, I'll just carry once worse then you are so they won't focus on you." Natsu smiled, let out a breath and said "Okay, but no telling the others that we are going to perform, we'll just make them come with us, I don't think I could handle their questions."

"Alright, I can handle that, where will we practice that no one will hear us?" Lucy asked. Natsu tapped his finger to his chin and then grinned, before asking "How do you feel about starting a laundry service for our friends?" "Huh?" "Well, we could do like Michelle does and charge x amount to do the loads, you can handle the girls and I'll handle the guys. The best laundromat is across town so we can practice in the car!" He explained. "Alright, sounds like a plan to me! But how are we going to explain starting the service?" Lucy pointed out.

"Hmm, well Gray is always complaining about going, says he would rather run around naked before having to do another load of laundry, every single time he goes to the laundromat. I could just say I got tired of his groaning about it and figured I'd start a service, then you jump in and say I can do the girls laundry so they don't feel embarrassed or whatever, does that sound like a plan?" Natsu asked. "Sounds good to me!"

They were soon pulling into campus and once parked, everyone piled out of the cars and grabbed their stuff. "I'll have dinner ready for us in just a bit, would someone like to help me so it can go faster?" Loke volunteered, especially when it was discovered the ingredients she was going to use were in his apartment. Erza went to her apartment with Jellal as he lugged some of her bags for her, while Levy and Juvia went to theirs. Natsu waved goodbye to Lucy, sharing a look with her to let her know he would begin working on his plan.

In fact, he had an easy start to it, Gray's laundry was all over the apartment floor. "Ugh Gray, can't you pick up after yourself?" complained Gajeel, while Natsu added, "Looks like someone needs to go to the laundromat, you really should have taken them home and had your mom wash them." "Ugh, why didn't I think of that! I really hate going there. Ugh why is nudity frowned upon, it would make life so much easier!" "Perfect." thought Natsu, barely holding back a grin.

XXX

About an hour later, everyone met in Jellal and Loke's apartment for the delicious dinner Michelle had made, with a little help from Loke. When they were about halfway through the meal, Natsu said "You know, Michelle's business and Gray's whining gave me a great idea. What if I started a laundry business for all us? I really don't mind doing it and I could go once or twice a week, whatever you guys need. Just a little money for gas and what have, how does it sound?" Gray was immediately like "Take my money!" while Levy provided the perfect opening for Lucy.

"I don't know, I mean I'm not sure how comfortable I am with you touching certain items of laundry of mine." Levy said shyly, looking at her plate. "If Natsu doesn't mind sharing the profits, I wouldn't mind handling the girls laundry, Michelle can attest to the fact that I always find it relaxing." Michelle nodded and said "Yeah, Lucy has been handling mine for me ever since I started the dinner business. Maybe we could work out a trade for services Luce, I cover your meal cost you cover my laundry cost?" "Sure, I guess we could do it so I get the girl's money and Natsu gets the guy's money, does that sound ok for you Natsu?"

"I don't know, you're getting free meals." he said, before grinning, "Nah, I'm kidding, it works for me. Of course we need enough people on board for this in order to make it profitable." Gray immediately started begging everyone, causing the whole table to laugh before agreeing that it sounded good to them. It was all Natsu and Lucy could do not to share a knowing smile with each other. "Oh, hey guys, I was checking out the events list for the school and the day before Christmas break, the one that is basically a free day? They are having a talent show all day, we should totally go watch it!" Lucy said, as she got ready to take a bite of food.

Everyone agreed that it sounded like fun and a few others even said they may enter after Lucy told them all the details she knew. Lucy sighed and then she started thinking about how, at the most, Natsu and herself had six trips in the car that they should be guaranteed to have alone. They really needed to figure out a song before the first trip so they could maximize their practice time. "Hey Natsu, let's work out a schedule for the laundry trips that work for both of. I have my class and volunteer schedule in my room, can you bring yours up to it?" Lucy said.

Natsu nodded and said "Sure, want to do it now?" "Yeah, that way we can tell everyone while they are all still together if we get worked out fast enough." Lucy said. Lucy and Natsu were going to stay and help clean up the dishes and such, but everyone insisted they go work on the schedule, especially Gray who was rather desperate. Natsu brought up his schedule and asked, "So what's up Luce, I know this is more than about making a schedule." "Well I figure even if we do two trips each week that only gives us six trips total, so I figured we should figure out a song now. I mean I know I could have texted you, but we all pretty much share each other's phones and I didn't want to chance the others seeing it."

"Hmm good point. Know any good duet? Or even just songs in general that would sound good with two people singing it?" he asked. "Not off the top of my head." Lucy said, as she also poured over their schedules. "Okay, how about we offer to do it on these two days, with this day being an emergency day where we'll take it, but we'll charge a little extra?" she said as she handed him the paper she had written the days on, before continuing with their previous line of conversation, "How about we each listen to some music, pick a couple we like and we'll discuss it as we get ready to take the stuff to laundromat?"

"What if someone overhears us? And this schedule idea works for me." "Good. We can just say we're working on a playlist to listen to while we do the laundry." Lucy answered with a smile. Natsu grinned and said "Alright, it sounds like a plan! Let's get this to the others and tell them our available dates and our emergency date." Lucy laughed and said "I bet Gray takes our emergency date since its tomorrow rather than wait another two days." "Our dads would be pleased with our business savvy." Natsu said, leading Lucy out of the room.

Speaking of dads, Lucy really needed to text Grandeeney and make sure that she brought at least Igneel to see his son perform. Even if she couldn't live her own dreams, nothing was stopping her from helping Natsu from getting a chance to have his come true. "I'll be right down, don't share the schedule before I get there, I want to see Gray's face when he hears the dates and their costs." Lucy said with a giggle. Natsu joined in before waving, letting her know he would see her down there. She quickly pulled out her phone and texted Grandeeney "Do you think you and Igneel and possibly Wendy, Romeo and maybe Zeref and Mavis, could come down the day before Christmas break?"

A few seconds later, "Why, is something happening that day?" "A talent show and I've got Natsu agreeing to sing on that day. We'll have to keep them from seeing each other until its Natsu's turn, don't want him chickening out." A few seconds later, Grandeeney replied with "That's wonderful Lucy! Thank you, I'll do my best to get them down there, I don't know about Zeref, but I know how much it will mean for Natsu if I can." "Get Mavis to do it, just don't tell anyone why or if you do, just don't say Natsu is going to be in it, just say I am and I could use all the support, because it's true. I got Natsu to agree to sing by saying I would do it with him."

"Well then I'm really looking forward to seeing it now. I will be there, even if I have to come alone, and I'll record it for you." "Thanks, I've got to go, Natsu doesn't know I'm texting you. Bye!" Then she switched over her messages to ones she had sent to her father. Once a week she would send him a hello and I love you text, sometimes with a small update. He never responded, but still she did. She really wanted to invite him to the talent show, but would he come?

Her fingers hovered over the keyboard longer than she realized because suddenly she heard "Earth to Lucy, are you ok?" she turned to see Natsu standing in the doorway. She sighed and said "I really want to invite my dad out to see me, but he never responds to my texts and never answers my phone calls, unless it's to tell me he can't make it home for whatever. I'm not sure I can handle inviting him and him not showing up, but I also think he would be hurt if I didn't invite him. I'm not sure what to do Natsu." Tears had started rolling down her face as she spoke, so Natsu came over and gave her a hug.

"It's okay Luce. Personally, I think you should invite him, I know you'll regret it more if you don't then if you do. Even if he doesn't show up, that would be on him, but not inviting him would be on you, I know that would hurt you more." He stated his opinion. "You're right." Lucy answered, before pulling out of the hug and sending her father the text message with the info. "Now, let's go show Gray the schedule." Natsu said with a grin. Lucy smiled and followed him, Gray's groans and his exclamation of "Fine, I'll pay the emergency fee, just take it tomorrow!" caused them all the chuckle. Now Lucy needed to sit down and listen to some songs before tomorrow afternoon.

**The version of Hole in My Heart that Natsu and Lucy were singing to (in my mind) was the version done by Nightcore (look it up on YT, I love how bouncy it is). I discovered that version of the song by watching Fairy Tail videos done by Anime Safe Haven, look up [AMV] Fairy Tail - Hole In My Heart on YT if you want to see the best line up ever for the L-O-V-E part, it was just too good, their choice for it keeps bringing me back to rewatch it (plus bouncy song). It didn't really inspire this story, like Kids did, though I guess you could almost say the line about You might have gone, but I'll never let go was like how their memories of each other were before running into each other, but that would be stretching it/really didn't inspire that scene anyways XD**

**Answers to Reviews!**

**FTAnt: Hahaha glad to hear it :D**


	4. Chapter 4

After class the next day, they started tossing songs back and forth as they loaded up laundry, Michelle had had an accident in class and hoped that by washing it asap permanent staining wouldn't occur on her clothes, the apron having done next to nothing to save them. And of course Gray had so much laundry, it would probably take Natsu two washes to get it done. "What about Little Do You Know by Alex and Sierra?" Lucy suggested, as she threw a bag of Gray's laundry into Natsu's car. "Too slow, what about Domino by Jessie J?" Natsu suggested as he grabbed the last bag of Gray's laundry to toss in. "I'm not sure it's quite us to be honest."

Natsu chuckled, and said "Okay what's your next suggestion?" When he heard it, he turned to her and said "I think we have our song, it was on my list too!" "Really? That's awesome! Okay, let me put Michelle's bag here to hopefully keep it from spreading its contamination to other clothes and then we can hit the road. They sang it all the way through together first, Lucy suggesting that when they were totally comfortable with it, they should pick out solo parts. Natsu blushed and said "I don't know Luce, at least I can pretend that people can't hear me when you are singing with me, if I do it on my own I might freeze up."

"It's not something we have to do, just keep it in mind. Now let's keep running through it until we get to the laundromat." And with that she restarted the song, keeping it on continuous loop until they got to the laundromat. As they carried their loads of laundry and soap inside, Natsu asked "Has your dad responded to your text?" Lucy sighed and said "No not yet and I don't expect him to." She violently tossed Michelle's clothes into the wash, showing Natsu just how much it hurt her that her dad wasn't responding.

If only he could tell his dad about it and get him to talk to Jude, maybe he would listen to Igneel. But then Igneel would want to come support Lucy and that would be a disaster! Maybe he would ask his dad for Jude's number and call him himself. Of course then Jude would see him singing, might mention it to Igneel and that too would open up a can of worms! Natsu barely kept from groaning as he tried to figure out a way to have Lucy's dad come without his dad every finding out about it.

They worked on their homework together as they waited for the laundry to wash, getting most of it done by the time the machine's stopped. Lucy was relieved to see the soaking the clothes of Michelle had got beforehand and the special cleaner they had bought to wash it with had successfully removed the stains, Michelle loved the shirt especially, it would be a pity if it had been ruined. Once the clothes had been switched over to dryers, Natsu asked "So did you charge Michelle for her emergency run or did you work out some sort of deal or what?"

Lucy smiled and answered "I said that if I was successful with getting the stain out that she would owe me a special dessert, so I sent her a picture and I've already received a million happy faces back as a reply." Natsu chuckled before asking "Is the dessert just for you or for everyone?" "Everyone of course, got to share the wealth." Lucy said with a wink, earning another laugh from Natsu. Then they settled in, finishing the last bit of homework as the dryers announced that the loads were dry. Lucy helped Natsu fold Gray's shirts since Natsu said Gray kept them in a drawer and not in the closet, and so they soon were done and headed back for school, singing as they went.

XXX

Lucy smiled as she remembered what Natsu said as they had pulled into a parking spot earlier, "You know we're sounding pretty good! Maybe we can work out solo parts for each of us." "Great, just tell me where you would be most comfortable doing one and we'll go from there." Lucy had answered him. Now though, they sat in Erza's apartment, enjoying the meal that Michelle and Loke had worked on. Michelle was teaching Loke how to cook as he had realized if it hadn't been for her he would either be starving or going further in debt to pay for a meal every night that wouldn't have been half as good or as cheap.

He didn't help every night, when she had something more difficult she would work alone, but tonight it was just spaghetti and meat sauce, with garlic bread and a salad on the side. Everyone dug in, Levy having no meat sauce because she just didn't like sauce, but other than that everyone spooned on big helpings of it. Everyone who had it, besides Lucy, moaned and said they wanted the recipe. Lucy and Michelle shared a glance and a restrained giggle formed in each of their throats, it happened every time Michelle made this sauce.

Then when everyone was stuffed, Michelle stood up and said "In honor of Lucy getting the stain out of my favorite shirt, I have cooked the special dessert she has requested. Who is ready for Cheesecake?!" Everyone raised their hands and slices of the plain Cheesecake were served out, and in the center of the table were many toppings. Lucy claimed some of the strawberries and their sauce as her topping, taking a big bite of it before moaning, "Good as ever sis!"

Loke dramatically slapped the table and said "That's it, I can't live without this food in my life." Turning towards Michelle and getting down on one knee he said "Michelle Lobster, please say you'll marry me!" "Loke Asad, you are a ham. Sure, I'll marry you." Michelle said, laughing at his antics. Loke clutched his heart and said "I die a happy man!" before collapsing momentarily to the floor. He wasn't down long though before he was back in his seat and inhaling the delicious Cheesecake.

Everyone had a good laugh over the scene, but Lucy didn't miss the longing look her sister did give Loke. Looked like they would be having a sisterly talk tonight. After supper, Lucy and Levy had a study group, there was going to be a quiz in their Creative Writing class the next day, and so they wanted to be prepared. After an hour of that, Lucy said she was heading to her own apartment, and since Erza, Loke and Michelle had just finished cleaning up after the meal and dessert, Michelle said she would go with her. Which worked out perfectly for Lucy, who after they finished talking Plue for a walk before they went to their apartment, said "Can we talk for a minute Michelle?"

"Sure." Michelle said, sitting on the couch next to where Lucy had just taken a seat. "So did I see things right, do you have a crush on Loke?" Lucy asked. Michelle blushed and said "Well sort of, but he doesn't really notice me outside of our cooking lessons, so I don't know what to do. I don't want to make things awkward between us, but at the same time I can't help but hope that he feels the same way." By this point a tear had made its way down Michelle's face and Lucy opened her arms to bring Michelle into a hug, which her sister allowed.

"I'm sorry Michelle that you're unsure, but maybe it would be better to talk to him rather than wait? I mean the longer you hope for him to return your feelings, the stronger they'll grow, which means if he says no that it will hurt that much more. Plus the sooner you say how you feel, if he returns your feelings, the sooner you can move onto the next stage of your relationship and have that much more time together." Lucy said.

Michelle looked down, they both knew that time was promised to no one all too well, before saying "You're right. I think I heard Loke leave behind us, maybe Jellal hasn't gotten back to their apartment then and I can talk to him in private!" "That a girl, go get him!" Lucy said with a smile. Michelle gave her sister one last hug, before leaving the apartment to go talk to Loke.

XXX

Lucy took at as a good sign that her sister didn't return right off, but she was dying to know if they had, in fact, shared those strong feelings Michelle had. She sighed, walking aimlessly to her window, before looking at the sky where the stars were starting to dot the skies. Just as she was about to leave the window, she looked down and what she saw made her smile, Michelle and Loke were walking hand in hand.

Lucy decided to go up onto the rooftop, where some tenants kept a garden, to look at the sky. It wasn't as full of a sky as it would have been in the country, in fact the amount of stars she could see could be counted on all of her and her friends hands, but it still gave her a small sense of peace to look at them. "The stars are beautiful, aren't they?" came the voice of Jellal, startling Lucy. "Oh, hey Jellal. Yes they are, I wish we could see more of them." She answered. "You know there is a state park not too far from here, we should all go there one night soon to look at them before it gets too cool." He suggested.

"Maybe we could camp out there, do you know if anyone has any camping supplies or knows someone we can borrow them from?" Lucy asked. "I don't know, but we should bring it up tomorrow at lunch, everyone should be there. Maybe we could do it this weekend." Jellal said with excitement. "Sounds like a plan to me!" Lucy said, "I'm heading back down now, it's a little chilly. You coming?" "No, I think I'll stay up here for a little bit." He said with a smile. "Okay, see you tomorrow Jellal."

XXX

The next day at lunch, Lucy and Jellal shared their plans with the others, who readily agreed that it sounded like a great plan. Nobody had any tents, so Lucy said she would look into it for the group. Everyone split up who would get what supplies, with Michelle of course landing the task of food. Loke and Michelle announced that they were dating to the group then, which earned them many congratulations, some wondering if the proposal had been more real than they had realized, which it hadn't, it had just been the thing to spur Michelle into motion.

XXX

The week passed quickly, Natsu and Lucy practicing in the car two more times that week, a few quizzes here and there for each of their classes and Lucy also started to formulate a plan, which she told Natsu about, to throw the others even further off his scent when it came to the talent show. Friday came and as soon as classes were over, they all met to work on homework. They had packed everything into the vehicles the night before so as soon as they were done with that, they piled into the vehicles, the same groups that had been together for the road from Crocus after Thanksgiving break being together again, which meant Lucy and Natsu were hauling luggage again.

They used this extra, unexpected time together to practice their song. An hour later, Magnolia far behind them, they pulled into the state park and found where they would be camping. "Okay first things first, let's set up the tent!" Lucy declared. "Tent? As in singular?" Gajeel questioned. "Yep, its one of those super big ones that can house a lot of people, it's got four small rooms and the main room on top of that. I was able to get one on loan from the camping store in town, apparently a lot of people rent tents from them to come here."

So they all worked together to set up the tent, which was like a mini palace when it comes to tents. It was decided that boys would be on the left side of the tent, girls on the right, with one room having three and the other having two on each side. There was a little flap that covered an area off the back of the tent for cooking purposes. Lucy was super excited about the main area, it had a clear top so that they could view the stars from inside the tent if they wanted to, but she for one was looking forward to doing so by the lake side.

An unusual Indian Summer had hit the area and so the temperature was really high for that time of year. So high in fact, that as soon as they were settled, everyone went in for a swim. "Can you guys believe it? We're in the first week of December, yet here we are camping and swimming and feeling as comfortable as if it was summer!" Juvia exclaimed. She was a strong swimmer and was thoroughly enjoying swimming in the lake. "I hope it last through the weekend, it would be great to be able to do this every day." Gray said with a smile, enjoying his girlfriend's happiness with their activity.

Natsu was the first to leave the water, not because he wanted to, but so he could get the fire going so they could cook their hot dogs. Everyone had decided that Michelle was taking the weekend off and that they all could cook their own hotdogs. Lucy climbed out once he had a fire going and chopped up an onion before adding a little of the oil they had brought with them into the foil container she had made to cook the onions in. Then she set them on top of the fire and waited until they were almost golden to call the others out of the water. All the hot dog toppings were passed around and everyone selected some chips and a soda they wanted to go with it. Lucy took some of her onions on the side and added them to the top of one of her salt and vinegar chips.

The others gave her weird looks but a few tried it themselves and found it rather good. They decided they better take a nap so they could spend several hours watching the stars. When they awoke, the sky was just starting to grow dark and Lucy led the way to the lake, where when they could view the sky they all gasped at its beauty. Lucy had brought a portable speaker and her music player and started some music, some of it was just instrumental, but there were a few songs with words in them. When one of them finally came on, Lucy knew it was time to act.

"And I will still be here, stargazing. I'll still look up, look up look up for love. Stars don't disappear, they keep blazing. Even when the night is over, that's how I find the light." Lucy belted out part of her favorite part of the song, while Natsu sang it off key at a quieter volume. Both had sang the whole song, Lucy having started out as a whisper like she was trying not to have anyone over hear her before she lost herself in the song, while Natsu had pretty much been normal level of volume, but off key the whole way. Everyone was staring at them when they finished.

"What?" Lucy asked with a blush, to which Levy said "Lucy, you have an amazing voice!" "You should totally try out for the talent show!" Erza added. "Hey, what about me?!" Natsu asked, acting annoyed. The others looked at each other, not wanting to hurt his feelings, but Gajeel was like "Man, no offense, but you sucked." "Gajeel!" Levy exclaimed, whacking his arm, to which Natsu grinned and said, "Don't worry about it, I knew I didn't sound good. But you guys are right about Lucy."

Turning to Lucy he said "You really should enter the talent show Lucy, you would wow everyone with your voice." Lucy really blushed, Natsu's words affecting her more than she could say. It made her happy that he thought she sounded good, because in her opinion he was amazing and therefore his opinion meant more to her. Or at least that's what Lucy told herself. Honestly she wasn't sure why his praise had meant more than the others, even Michelle's words of encouragement to join the guild that followed his didn't make her heart feel as happy as his did.

To take everyone's attention off of her singing, Lucy started pointing out constellations, telling them a little about each one and how some smaller constellations were part of a bigger constellation which essentially added up to multiple names being given to one area of stars. She told of how Orion was the first one that she had learned where to find it, simply because a movie had called him the rider and since she was going through the pony phase that a lot of girls go through and most seem to outgrow, she had set out to learn his location.

The others were amazed at her knowledge of the stars, minus Natsu and Michelle anyways. Michelle had heard a lot of these before and while Lucy was sharing a lot of things he hadn't heard her tell before, Natsu still remembered her pointing them out. And while Orion may have been the first one she learned the location of, both Michelle and Natsu knew that her love of the stars had been started by her mother. She had told Lucy many of the stories about the constellations, some that were ones everyone knew and some she had made up on her own to amuse her daughter.

Lucy actually shared a few of those, saying that these weren't true myths attached to them, but rather ones her mom had created just for her when she was little. Soon they all started slowing wandering back to the tent, Lucy and Natsu being the last to do so, though Natsu it was more because he didn't want Lucy to be left out there alone, more than it was about the stars. They both saw a falling star and both made wishes for the other, both of which involved their dads coming to understand the dreams of the children.

**Lol so a few interesting tidbits in here. I did not mean for it to take so long to get to the star gazing and when I realized it was December already in my story I was like ooh I need to do an Indian Summer I guess (since I had already written up to that point before realizing how cold the camping trip would be XD) then I did a quick check/bit of research and the first page I looked at said that there have been warm spells in December that were called Indian Summers so I was like okay that's good enough for me XD Whether one in December would actually be warm enough where you felt like swimming, idk, probably not since the water would already be cold from the previous cold days, but I had to include it, because I love swimming XD**

**Grilled onions on chips is a favorite treat of mine, you have to use Lays chips for them, other brands I have tried just don't have the right flavor for me. Levy having no sauce on her spaghetti is because that's how I like it, no other reason XD **

**The Michelle/Loke pairing isn't one that I would say I'm for, but neither am I against it. When I started this story I wanted Michelle in it and then I was like ah, but that makes the girls outnumber the guys and since Loke is one of my favorites (though I preferred the way he looked as FT Loke rather than CS Leo, so that's how I'm picturing him in this story, in case you are wondering), I added him in there for fun.**

**Now, I promised I would point out songs that inspired this story and the Severo version of Stargazing ft. Amelie is one of them. I always think of Lucy when I hear this song, probably because of her Celestial Wizard stuff, but yeah the whole stargazing plot was totally inspired by it XD It was never supposed to be a thing to throw them off the scent of Natsu's singing abilities, but I wanted to add some humor to it and I thought that would work.**

**Oh and the whole Orion being called the Rider thing? That is totally why I learned to find him (though I have not outgrown my horse phase XD), in a movie that is called Breaking Free/A Leap of Faith (it's been released under both names for whatever reason) which is about a blind girl and a boy in trouble with the law who of course end up falling in love, all while she learns to jump a horse/event show jump after she lost her sight due to a gymnastics accident. Anyways, she tells him how to find Orion and calls him the Rider, so yeah, I think he was the third one I learned to find, after the two Dippers of course. I can't find too many others, but yeah, that's how I learned to find one of them XD**

**Think that's all the tidbits I had for this chapter, quite a few neat pieces of "trivia" I had to share XD**

**Answers to Reviews!**

**FTAnt: I'm glad you love the story :D**


	5. Chapter 5

The second day and night of their campout passed much the same as the first, the warm air continuing well into the early hours of Sunday morning. Lucy woke up in the main room of the tent, having fallen asleep while looking at the stars the night before, and was surprised to find her sleeping bag had been opened and put over her like a blanket. She sat up and saw Natsu a few feet away in his own sleeping bag, softly breathing as he was still asleep. Lucy smiled and realized he must have been the one to bring her sleeping bag out, or at least had it brought out.

As the sleeping bag slipped away, the cold air that had been missing the pass few days hit her, and she shivered. Standing up, she rushed to the room she was sharing with Levy and Michelle, putting on the warm clothes she had brought just in case. Everyone was stirring by then, and when she re-entered the main area, Natsu had also left to go to his room. After a quick breakfast of S'mores, they decided to head back earlier then they had planned since they were all cold, except for Gray, he had a weird tolerance for cold weather.

So after packing up and dismantling the tent and carefully storing it, they headed off towards Magnolia, agreeing to meet at their favorite restaurant for lunch. Natsu and Lucy practiced their song most of the way there, starting to feel really comfortable with it. Then they talked about how they only had two more weeks until the talent show. "I think we're sounding amazing, I almost wish the talent show were tonight so that we could get it over with, my nerves are already wound so tight!" Lucy exclaimed, causing Natsu to laugh.

"Remember, this was your idea, we could still always back out if you want to, it's not like we've signed up yet, right?" Natsu said, teasing her. Lucy frowned and said "No way, we are doing this, I promise you that!" Natsu laughed and said "I believe you. Honestly, I'm a little excited myself and you do sound great Lucy." Lucy playfully punched him and said "You mean you sound great, I wouldn't sound anywhere near as good as I do without you, your easy to get a pitch off of." Natsu shook his head, not really believing he sounded amazing, in fact he felt like how their friends reacted when he "sang" was probably more how the audience was going to react when he really did.

They didn't get a chance to continue their conversation, however, as they pulled into the restaurant's parking lot. Everyone went in and sat down at their usual table, food soon arriving because the staff knew them pretty well. All of them had found something that they just craved every time they came, so they finally gave the staff their blessing to just start preparing it. Even the type of drinks were memorized. They all joked and laughed and talked about their weekend, enjoying this unplanned for extra time together.

Soon the food was eaten and the checks were paid and they all once again piled into the cars to head to their apartments. Lucy and Natsu got through the song two more times before they got there and helped everyone unload. "I'm going to return the tent now so I don't have to worry about forgetting to do so later." Lucy announced. "I'll come with you." Natsu said, unnoticed by the pair the knowing eyes their friends shared. Everyone thought for sure that Lucy and Natsu would be the next ones in their group to pair off.

"Okay, thanks Natsu. Anyone else?" Lucy asked. Nobody else volunteered, sure that the "couple" just wanted some alone time but were trying to be polite. So off they went to return the tent, practicing as they went and on the way back as well. "That was fun, thanks for coming Natsu." Lucy said as she pulled into her parking spot. "Thanks for letting me tag along." Natsu said with a grin as they exited the vehicle. Michelle was walking Plue, so Lucy went and took the leash from her, thanking her sister and happy to see Plue again after the short weekend away. All of their pets had been watched by a lady name Porlyusica, who while a bit of a hermit, was still rather friendly and loved their pets. Lucy and Natsu waved goodbye, saying they would see each other at the supper Michelle was fixing that night.

XXX

The next couple of weeks simply flew past for Lucy and Natsu. Besides practicing their song and doing their usual amount of homework and laundry, everyone was getting ready for tests, since the semester would be over. Late night studying was a common thing among the friends, sometimes alone, sometimes with just those in their classes and sometimes even as a big group. When they did a big group one they would have those not in their classes ask them questions and they would try to see who could answer fastest (if there was more than one in the same class) or if they could just plain answer it.

The day of the test passed in a blur and they all found themselves collapsed on the floor in Gajeel, Gray and Natsu's apartment. "I vote we order in some pizzas to celebrate that being over." Natsu groaned from the floor and all agreed. Loke called the local pizzeria and had several pizzas delivered, all with different toppings so that people could hopefully find something they wanted. When it arrived, Gray staggered to his feet, collecting everyone's portion of the money for the pies and tip, before opening the door to get their slices of heaven.

They all decided to just put the pizza on the floor and sit in a big circle around it so they wouldn't have to bother moving tomorrow. After they were partway through their meal and somewhat revived, Erza asked "So is anyone entering the talent show tomorrow?" All eyes turned to Lucy, even Natsu's when he caught on why they were doing so. Lucy, who had been busying reaching for another slice of pizza when the question was asked, looked up to find all of their eyes on her. "What?!" she asked.

"Well you have a great voice Lu, we all think you should enter tomorrow." Levy said, causing Lucy to blush and say "I've been thinking about it." "Really? Huh wouldn't have thought you would want to." said Gajeel, earning him a light punch from Levy. "Well it would be sort of fun, I think." Lucy said, trying to sound like she still hadn't decided for sure if she wanted to. "You should, you would blow them away." Jellal said, earning an agreeing nod from Erza. "I don't know…" Lucy said, being interrupted by Loke, "If you're worried they won't like you, don't. You have an amazing talent Lucy."

Lucy blushed furiously at this, wishing that Natsu could be sharing in their praise, having all this attention on her was making her uncomfortable. "We'll all be there to support you Lucy. Just look for our faces in the crowd if you get nervous and concentrate on us." Michelle said to her sister, putting a hand on her shoulder. "We'll cheer so loud that you won't even notice anyone else is there." Juvia said, with Gray adding "You'll knock them dead Lucy." Lucy smiled at her friends, while Natsu added, "They're right Luce." Lucy gave him a special smile, causing the group to be even surer they were close to pairing off if they hadn't already.

"Is anyone else going to enter?" Lucy asked, trying to take the attention off herself. Everyone shook their heads no. "We thought about it, but none of us felt there was time to really put anything together. But it's an annual event so there is always next year." Erza answered. "Well since no one else is going to represent our group, I'll do it!" Lucy said, earning cheers from everyone as well as a smirk form Natsu. They all decided to call it a night, hoping to get over there early enough to ensure Lucy got a spot in the show. Lucy texted Grandeeney "What time do you think you'll be here tomorrow?"

Not to long after it was sent, the answer came back "We should be there in the early afternoon, not sure when we'll leave exactly, but I will keep you posted. I'm so excited, it's been so hard keeping this a secret from everyone." Lucy chuckled before responding "lol same for me too, everyone here thinks it's just me entering too." "Well you should get some sleep, I'll see you all tomorrow." "Thanks Grandeeney." Closing those messages, she checked hers between her dad and her and saw nothing there, just as there had been nothing there every day. Sighing, she sent him one more message inviting him to the show tomorrow, than she rolled over in her bed, trying to fall asleep.

XXX

The next day dawned bright and early, Lucy practically being dragged from her bed by Michelle and Levy who were excited to help her dress. "I just want to wear what I normally wear." Lucy yawned, but she let the two pick out outfits for her to try on, doing so until they finally agreed that just being her would work best for Lucy. Then Lucy left by herself to register for the talent show. "Since you're so early to register, you can pick your time slot if you want." said a girl whose first name she knew was Mira. "Well my friend's parents are supposed to be here by early afternoon, so mid to late would be preferred if possible." Lucy answered politely.

"Sure is, we'll put you down for five, does that work for you?" Mira smiled sweetly, earning a return smile from Lucy who answered, "That would be great, thanks!" Then she texted everyone that her time was set for five that afternoon. Michelle said she would have lunch ready at noon. Lucy then shot a text to Grandeeney saying her time slot was for five, earning a reply that said "The GPS says we'll be there at two, so I'll try to keep Igneel from searching you guys out until then."

Lucy chuckled as her stomach tied up in knots, more for this than the singing part. She really hoped that Natsu wouldn't be mad at her for doing this. Lucy slowly meandered back to her apartment, trying to calm her nerves. She was just in time for lunch, her friends questioning her what took her so long. "I just needed to calm my nerves." She answered honestly, earning sympathetic looks from her friends. "If you want Lucy, I'll go backstage with you and stay until it's your turn." Natsu offered. Their friends were nearly dying of the cuteness of these two as Lucy accepted.

No one else offered to join them, much to Natsu and Lucy's surprise and relief, they weren't sure how they would have ditched whoever else joined them. At two Lucy got a message from Grandeeney saying they were on the college campus, Lucy just barely keeping herself from sighing in relief. Now they still had to keep Natsu from running into Igneel for the next three hours. She sent Grandeeney a message saying that she was going to keep Natsu at the apartments unless Grandeeney thought Igneel was wanting to check there for him.

Grandeeney said she would keep him from going there, saying that Igneel's phone got "accidentally" left behind by her at their house. Lucy kept the grin off her face at how sneaky Grandeeney could be. It was surprisingly easy to keep everyone at the apartment until thirty minutes before it was time to be on, then she said to Natsu "Let's go, we can wait back stage there and we can be nearby if I have to go on sooner." Natsu nodded and she quickly sent Grandeeney a text letting her know they were on their way to the event. Everyone stood, having been staying at the apartment solely to help keep Lucy nerves down.

Lucy had said she wanted to watch the other acts, but she was so nervous she felt like she might puke and wanted to be nearby a toilet just in case. So everyone had worked together to get her mind off of it. Now they all headed to the auditorium where it was being held, their friends splitting off from them to go watch inside while Lucy and Natsu safely made it to the back stage area where no one could get to them. She let Grandeeney know it was safe to return and then she looked at Natsu. "Are you ready for this?" she asked him nervously. Natsu swallowed a couple of times, before giving a firm nod and saying "I will be."

Lucy smiled knowing exactly what he meant. The minutes passed by both slow and fast for their nervous minds, almost not hearing their names as they were told they would be up next. They watched from the side as a guy nicknamed Ant did his act which involved Animatronic Dinosaurs that he had built and programmed to do things. As he finished up to a round of applause, Lucy and Natsu shared a look of fear and anticipation. Lucy reached for his hand and squeezed it, whispering "We'll be fine." Natsu smiled softly and whispered back "Yeah we will."

Their names were announced and they walked on stage, having released each other's hand before doing so. They reached the microphones that had been placed out for them and Lucy spotted their friends in the crowd as well as all of Natsu's family, including Zeref and Mavis Vermillion. Then beside them, she saw her dad! She couldn't believe and she almost started crying, but she looked over at Natsu. He hadn't spotted his family yet because he was busy looking down at the ground.

As the music for Imagine Dragons' It's Time started playing, their friends almost had a mini panic attack. Why was Natsu still up there and in front of a microphone?! Was Lucy crazy, she was great, but Natsu was terrible! They might get booed off the stage type terrible. Lucy looked over at Natsu who looked at her and they both started singing "So this is what you meant, when you said that you were spent. And now it's time to build from the bottom of the pit. Right to the top. Don't hold back. Packing my bags and giving the academy a rain-check."

Then Lucy started her solo, looking out at the crowds and almost laughing at her friends' dropped jaws at Natsu's real singing voice, "I don't ever wanna let you down, I don't ever wanna leave this town. Cause after all, this city never sleeps at night." Natsu rejoined her as they sang "It's time to begin, isn't it? I get a little bit bigger but then I'll admit I'm just the same as I was. Now don't you understand, that I'm never changing who I am."

"So this is where you fell and I am left to sell the path to heaven runs through miles of clouded hell. Right to the top. Don't look back. Turning to rags and giving the commodities a rain-check. I don't ever wanna let you down, I don't ever wanna leave this town. Cause after all, this city never sleeps at night." they continued together, "It's time to begin, isn't it? I get a little bit bigger but then I'll admit I'm just the same as I was. Now don't you understand, that I'm never changing who I am."

Then Natsu started his solo, well it was supposed to be the both of them, but he was so lost in the song, he didn't notice Lucy had stopped early as he sang, "It's time to begin, isn't it? I get a little bit bigger but then I'll admit I'm just the same as I was. Now don't you understand, that I'm never changing who I am. This road never looked so lonely. This house doesn't burn down slowly, to ashes, to ashes." Then Lucy jumped in for a solo line, "It's time to begin, isn't it?" Natsu doing the next two lines alone, "I get a little bit bigger but then I'll admit I'm just the same as I was." Lucy doing the next line "Now don't you understand." Before they both joined in for the rest of the song.

"That I'm never changing who I am. It's time to begin, isn't it? I get a little bit bigger but then I'll admit I'm just the same as I was. Now don't you understand, that I'm never changing who I am." As the music slowly faded, the room broke out into a loud applause with a few whistles thrown in, courtesy of Gray. Lucy and Natsu looked at each other and smiled the biggest grins, before taking their bows and exiting the stage, their friends and family already hurrying outside to meet them.

"You did amazing! Natsu I can't believe you faked us out!" Erza exclaimed, similar comments coming from all of their friends. Natsu grinned and said "That was Lucy's idea, she knew I didn't want you guys knowing until today." Lucy saw her dad and went running to him, giving him a hug as she said "You came! You never answered my text so I was worried you were too busy!" "I almost didn't make it, but Michelle and Natsu both were chewing me out about it, especially Natsu." Her father said, humor in his voice.

Lucy pulled back from the hug a little, surprise on her face as she asked "What did he say?" "That's between me and him, but let's just say he was right." Jude answered, looking down at his daughter with love. Natsu was grinning at his handy work when he felt a familiar hand on his shoulder. Turning, his eyes widened in surprise as he saw Igneel, Grandeeney, Wendy, Romeo, Mavis and Zeref all standing there. "What are you guys doing here!" He exclaimed.

**Haha well that went fast XD And Ant is based off my friend FTAnt, who made such an awesome fanfic for me that I had to return the favor in some small way (I read it earlier in the day that I wrote this chapter). If you're curious as to what fanfic this is, it's called Game of Heart, but you should totally check out the other stories he has written :D Hope you enjoyed that my friend :D And you probably realizing now why I asked you about video games, etc ;D **

**It's Time by Imagine Dragons is the third and next to final song that inspired this fanfic. I kind of wanted a song that reflected them in this story, how they both had different loves and weren't interested in doing the business side of things that their dads wanted them to do. Basically it's them saying as much as this is what my parents want me to be, I'm still going to be a singer/writer, in my mind anyways, without being outright rude XD Especially since, you know, neither dad was supposed to be there XD **

**Answers to Reviews!**

**FTAnt: I'm glad you've been enjoying this story, I hope you liked this chapter ;)**


	6. Chapter 6

"Lucy told me that you were going to be in the talent show and that I should bring the family down." Grandeeney answered, "None of them besides me knew you were going to sing. I had told Lucy when you visited that you had a lovely voice and how I wished your father could hear it, so I was really happy when she told me about this. It's been really hard keeping this secret for the past few weeks." "Natsu, you were amazing!" Wendy said, while Romeo added "I didn't know you could sound like that!" "You really know how to surprise me little brother." Zeref said with a soft smile on his lips as Mavis added "You both harmonized so well!"

Natsu's head felt like it was going to explode, he couldn't believe his family was really here! He realized Igneel had yet to say anything and he gulped softly before questioningly saying "Dad?" "Son, you were beyond what words could describe. Not only was your voice beyond anything I have ever heard, but I could tell how happy you were to be up there singing. Why have you never let me hear you sing before?"

Natsu stared down at the ground, rubbing his toe in the ground. Everyone stayed quiet, both to let the two have their moment and so they could listen in. Finally Natsu sighed and said "Singing is what I really want to do as a career dad, but I also didn't want to let you down. You've done so much for me and Zeref, not to mention for Wendy, that I wanted to give something back to you by taking over the company someday like you wanted me to do." Igneel, taken aback by Natsu's explanation, pulled him into a hug.

He sighed and said "Natsu, I'm sorry. I thought you were just as excited about coming to work for the company that I never took the time to make sure. What I really want is for you to be happy, you don't owe me anything. You, Zeref and Wendy have all made my life ten times better than it could have ever been. Before I adopted you boys all I had was work and it was not a life I was happy in, you opened up my world. If it hadn't been for you two I would have never have taken the time to get to know Grandeeney, which means I never would have married her and had Wendy in my life. If anybody owes anyone anything, it's me who owes you and Zeref for all you have done for me."

Natsu and Igneel were openly crying at this point, as were Grandeeney, Wendy and Mavis. Zeref was trying not to show how touched he was, but Lucy caught the single tear that fell down his cheek. Igneel kissed the top of his son's head, still towering over the boy he called son, before saying "How about over Christmas break we talk about your future?" Natsu choked on a sob before saying "I would like that." Than he pulled away from Igneel and pulled Lucy into a hug, sobbing "Thank you Lucy."

Lucy was surprised by the hug at first, but returned it, glad that Natsu was happy with his dad being here as she said "You're welcome Natsu and thank you, for getting my dad to come." Zeref quietly said to his father, "I would also like to talk with you about my future when we get back, if that's okay." Igneel smiled down at his oldest son and pulled him into a hug as well as he said "Of course."

XXX

Everyone left for Crocus the next day. Lucy's father surprised her by saying that he had bought a house there, in fact it was right next door to Natsu's house, the very one Lucy had been pretending to admire when they were there for Thanksgiving break. He had had everything moved there, the move having been finished just yesterday by his staff as he drove to be at Lucy and Natsu's talent show. Ant had taken first place in the show, but Lucy and Natsu had come in second! Their prize had been free food at the cafeteria for a month, but they switched prizes with Ant, who found it much more necessary than they did, seeing as how they had Michelle. The prize he had switched with them was a pass to the planetarium on campus, something Lucy was especially thrilled about.

This trip to Crocus she made with her dad as Michelle drove her car with Plue in it. Natsu rode home with his family, planning on catching a ride back to school with his friends. Lucy tightened her grip on the fabric of her skirt, took a deep breath and while looking down said, "Dad, can we talk about my future?" "Sure Lucy, what is it?" Jude asked softly, looking briefly at his daughter only to find her looking at the floor of the car. "I don't want to work for the company dad. I'd much rather be an author or maybe even an astronomer or both! Those are my passions, not business." Lucy said softly.

Jude sighed and said "I know Lucy, I'm sorry for pushing the business on you. I had really wanted the business to stay in the family, after all the work I put into putting it back together. However," he raised a hand at this point to stop her from interrupting, "I know that was never your dream. You are very much like your mother in that regards too." Lucy smiled and said "It could still stay in the family, what about Michelle?" "She wants to be a chef, not be in the business world." Jude said, "I don't want to force it on her as I forced it on you."

"Michelle's second dream in life was to be a chef is true, but don't you remember how much she loved visiting you in your office while mom was still alive? Michelle is a great cook, it's true, all my friends would rush to say the same. But her true passion is business, she's doing amazing in the few classes she is taking right now. At least talk to her about it. I can't promise that being a chef hasn't taken over first place in her heart, but that doesn't mean you can't ask." Lucy stated. Her father smiled and said "It will be one of the first things I do when we get home."

XXX

Natsu was in the front passenger seat beside his dad, Mavis and Zeref were in the two middle seats and Grandeeney, Romeo and Wendy were in the back of the van. Grandeeney always let Natsu have the front seat due to his motion sickness problem. Mavis and Zeref were talking in hushed tones, Zeref smiling more than Natsu had ever seen him do so in the past few years. It looked like Zeref was finally coming out of whatever funk he had been in, maybe it was thanks to his bubbly girlfriend, Mavis.

Natsu leaned towards his dad and asked "Can we start talking about my future now?" Igneel smiled and briefly looked at his son as he said "Sure, what do you want to talk about?" "I know that there is no guarantee I'll make it as a singer and I am enjoying the business courses a little, so I was thinking that I could keep studying business and then on the side I could add some things to help me out in the singing world, like maybe voice lessons or something. Than if I don't make it as a singer, I still have my business career to fall back on."

Igneel was proud of his son for coming up with the plans himself, a very mature way of looking at it too he thought. "I don't doubt you'll make it if the crowds' reaction to your performance was any indication, however I think your plan is a very good idea, Natsu, and I support it one hundred percent." Igneel said with a smile, earning one from Natsu, as he replied to his father "Thanks dad. Maybe someday I'll come work for the family business." Zeref leaned forward then, Mavis turning towards the back seat to talk to Grandeeney to give them a little privacy.

"Since we're talking about the future here, I wanted to say dad, that if your offer for me to come work for you is still open, I'm ready to finally put my degree to work." Zeref said, earning a look of surprise from Igneel before he asked "Are you sure Zeref? I mean you can quit any time you want, but are you sure this is what you want to do?" "I don't know, haven't really tried it, but I did enjoy it in school like Natsu does, so I don't see why I won't like it now." Zeref said with a smile. Igneel returned it as he said "After Christmas you can start as a gofer."

Zeref nodded and then sat back in his seat, Mavis turning back to join him, leaving Natsu and Igneel alone in the front seat. Igneel got a mischievous, teasing look in his eye as he asked Natsu, "Tell me, what will you do if I turn on the radio now? Will you still beg me to turn it off?" Natsu blushed, remembering doing so for many years to keep from accidentally singing and being heard by his family, before he smirked back and said "Bring it on! I'm fired up now!"

XXX

Christmas Eve, Lucy, Michelle and Jude went over to the Dragneel's house, ready to celebrate Christmas with their friends. Grandeeney had invited them to join them that night and to spend it in their spare bedrooms, so that they could all open presents together, since the girls had been invited before Jude decided to stay home for Christmas. It was costing him millions in a deal, but his eyes were finally starting to open to how much he had already missed of Lucy and Michelle's lives and he didn't want to miss anything else that he could witness.

They stayed up late into the night, laughing and chatting and just enjoying each other's company. Mavis and her sister Zera were also spending the night, they had lost their parents long ago and Grandeeney insisted that they must spend every holiday with them until they were sick of them. All the girls stayed in one room together, giggling long into the night and all becoming fast friends. Because of how late it was when they went to bed, they were startled awake by Natsu when he finally couldn't wait for them to get up.

Presents were opened and memories were made when one of Mavis gifts from Zeref was an engagement ring. Since they had opened their gifts in their pjs, everyone started moving to go get dressed for lunch. Lucy grabbed Natsu's hand, stopping him in his tracks as she said "Wait, I have one more for you." She handed him a small box which, when he opened it, he found contained a small red dragon. "It's a hidden flash drive, I didn't tell you but your mom recorded our talent show performance and it's on there." The dragon flash drive was attached to a chain and she took it out of the box and slipped it over his head. "This is so you don't lose it before you find a place to put it." She teased.

Natsu pulled her into a hug and said "Thanks Luce, it's the best present I got this year! I got you something special too!" He pulled something out of his pocket and held it up for her to see. It was the emblem of their University, but against a purple background it had the constellation Orion on it. Lucy had tears filling her eyes as she said "Oh Natsu, I love it! It's perfect." Much like she had slipped the flash drive's chain over his head, Natsu did it for her with the necklace before he too found himself pulled into a hug. They pulled away from each other and smiled, before racing down the hallway to get changed.

XXX

Loke and Romeo had been invited for lunch and just like clockwork, the doorbell rang at the hour they had been given to arrive. "Now that everyone is here," Grandeeney spoke up, "It's time for the annual photo of our Christmas celebration. It started the year Igneel adopted the boys and it's something we've kept going all the while, it's a wonderful reminder how our family and circle of friends have grown over the years, gather around everyone." Soon everyone was situated, Lucy found herself tucked in with Michelle to her right, Natsu to her left and her dad behind her and Michelle. Everyone grinned for the camera, all letting out a little laugh as Mavis held up her hand to show off her ring for it.

After making sure it came out and that everyone was visible, Grandeeney said "It's perfect, thank you everyone! Now let's go eat." As they sat down to a Christmas dinner, Lucy, Natsu, Michelle and Loke's phone went off and they all saw they had a message on their groups message. "Gajeel asked me to be his girlfriend! Best Christmas present ever!" They all chuckled and sent their congratulations to the couple, before putting their phones away for the rest of the meal.

XXX

It was New Year's Eve and Igneel had rented a hall for Natsu and all his friends to use to celebrate. Normally they would have had it at their house, but Grandeeney had been feeling under the weather and had a headache, so he had made a last minute booking. It had a karaoke machine as well as a place to eat and get drinks, though only virgin versions of any of them as Igneel did not want to deal with the headache of drunk college students. Wendy and Romeo had got permission to join them, much to their excitement upon being asked by Natsu and his friends to join them.

Zeref, Mavis and Zera were also there, enjoying both reconnecting and getting to know some of Natsu's friends. Natsu had pulled Mavis aside and whispered something to her, earning a small squeal and a nod from her as she nearly jumped up and down from excitement. Natsu waited his turn to use the karaoke machine, Lucy keeping him company as he did so. "Stay close Luce, this is my first time singing alone in front of a crowd. Can you stand right in front so I can look at you if I need to calm myself?"

Lucy smiled and said "Sure Natsu, anything for you." She blushed after saying that, one that went unnoticed by Natsu. Lucy wasn't sure when it happened, perhaps it had always been there, even when they were kids. Or maybe it was all that time they had spent practicing together or the way he looked out for her when they all went on their stargazing camping trip. Whenever it had happened, she had only recently noticed it. She had fallen for Natsu. She didn't want to spoil things in case he didn't return her feelings, she didn't want to lose her best friend twice.

Suddenly she realized it was Natsu's turn and so she wished him good luck and moved to be where he had asked. She didn't notice that Mavis had pulled out her phone from her position to the side as the beginning to Elvis Presley's Can't Help Falling In Love began to play. "Wise men say, only fools rush in. But I can't help falling in love with you." Lucy gulped, if she didn't know any better, Natsu had looked right at her at that line.

"Shall I stay? Would it be a sin? If I can't help falling in love with you?" "Okay, that time he definitely looked at me!" Lucy thought to herself, as hope began to flutter in her stomach like a butterfly. "Like a river flows, surely to the sea. Darling, so it goes, some things are meant to be." Then in time with his next words, which Lucy obeyed, causing her to join him on the small stage, "Take my hand, take my whole life, too. For I can't help falling in love with you."

Than instead of singing the next part, Natsu said "Lucy, will you be my girlfriend?" Earning gasps and awwws from their friends as Lucy, tears in her eyes said "Of course I will." He brought his forehead to hers as he sang the last part, "Take my hand, take my whole life, too. For I can't help falling in love with you. For I can't help falling in love with you." Than as the last of the music died away, he kissed her on the lips, earning a round of applause and whistles from their group of friends and family.

As he pulled away, he whispered to her "Mavis has something that I can add to this now. I'm going to keep all of our special moments that we can in this." holding up the dragon flash drive for her to see. "You're still wearing it?" she whispered. "I haven't taken it off since you put it on me." He whispered back, pulling her in for another kiss. Their necklaces intertwined as they started to pull apart, a shot that Mavis was sure to capture to give to Natsu later.

**I really liked the line of him not having taken off the flash drive since Lucy had put it on him, but then I was like wait, he needed to shower between Christmas and then! So in order to keep such a cute scene, my explanation is that Lucy wanted to make sure it was protected, etc so it is airtight/waterproof, hence he can wear it in the shower, swimming, etc :D**

**And there is the final song that inspired this fic, Can't Help Falling In Love. I'm not sure if you guys remember or read my AN at the bottom of Chapter 2, but I said JazzyRocks78 had a couple of words in Imperfect Lover that could tell you what the best inspiration song for this fic was going to be, nor do I know if you went a read her fic after (or before) I told you this, but it was kind of a small lie because she actually listed the song itself, not a few words that would lead to it XD She mentioned learning to play it on the Ukulele in her AN for Chapter 17 of that story. That's where this one started and then when I was mowing and the other songs added their own details to the story, I just knew I had to write this. So yeah, there is the final song that inspired this story and this was the next to the last chapter, so one more chapter to go!**

**And I added Zera! I loved her character so much, I wish she could have been around more/longer. I was just going to have her be Mavis's friend, but when I went looking to see if she had a last name and I couldn't find one and after I turned down the thought of giving her a last name that meant lizard, like Loke having one that means lion in my story, I decided that to make it easier I would just have her be Mavis's sister :D**

**Answers to Reviews!**

**FTAnt: lol I'm glad you liked your cameo XD**


	7. Chapter 7

**Three Years+ Later**

Natsu and Lucy walked hand in hand, like they had every day since they became a couple. They had returned to the campsite where they had stayed with their friends all those years ago, those same friends with them once more. But right now, they were spending a moment alone on the beach, minus Loke who was taking a picture of the night sky. Once he had the camera set up, he left it while it took it's shot, joining Michelle on the edge of the woods as the watched the happy couple. Loke and Michelle had been married over a year ago and most of their friends had either become engaged or gotten married as well.

Even Wendy and Romeo, who had started at the University this past fall, were now engaged. It seemed that once again Lucy and Natsu were behind the times, but they both knew it wasn't to be for much longer. In fact, Natsu was heading right for where he planned to propose to Lucy, in front of Loke's camera, which once it had taken the picture of the night sky, he had set to take a photo of them at the moment of the word yes from Lucy's mouth. Than he was going to photoshop Lucy and Natsu's photo so that the stars were visible behind them. Most importantly the constellation Orion would be in the background, it was special for Lucy and Natsu.

"Hey Luce, what's your biggest dream, besides being a writer I mean." Natsu asked softly. "That's easy. One day, I want to own the beach house again that my mom so loved. It would be like having a piece of her with me all the time. How about you Natsu? What's your biggest dream?" Lucy answered as well as returned the question. Natsu squeezed her hand and said "I'll tell you about it in a moment." Lucy was confused why he wouldn't share it immediately, but she Natsu would keep his word and so let him wait.

Natsu couldn't have asked for a better Valentine's Day to have proposed, the sky was perfect, Loke had helped him line things up so that Orion would be in the photo and they had a microphone hidden close enough to them so that they could put the proposal's audio over the image, something more to add to his dragon flash drive. There had been many other photos and videos he added, the one where they had gotten a professional photo of themselves with their pets, the video of their first date activity of water tubbing, scans of love letters and photos of past holidays, including that first Christmas they had spent together before even becoming a couple. He was soon to be an uncle to Zeref and Mavis's baby, they weren't telling anyone if it was a boy or a girl, but Natsu didn't care which it was, he would love it anyways.

He shook his head, he had allowed his mind to wander and had almost walked past the mark Loke had set for him to stop on. He quickly did so and pulled Lucy to face him. "You know Luce, I had a feeling, way back that first summer when we first met, when we were just kids, that you were going to be someone special to me. I just didn't know than how special that would be. I can't imagine what life would have been like if we had never gone to Fairy Tail and ran into each other. I wouldn't be close to being a singer like I am now, and you would probably not have published your first book like you did last month. It's been a wild ride so far and I'm hoping that you'll be with me all the way to the end of it. So Lucy," he said as he got down on one knee, keeping his grip on one of her hands as he pulled out a box with his other, using his thumb to open it, "Will you marry me?"

Lucy gasped as she saw the ring, it was a pink diamond, a light shade like his hair with a starburst pattern to it. She could see it because he had used a white glow stick that he had attached to the top of the box right before they started their walk to light it up in the dark. "Yes, of course I will." Lucy exclaimed, throwing herself into his arms as several flashes went off, starting the moment she said yes. Loke wanted to be sure he got the perfect image to go over the photo.

As Natsu slipped the ring on her finger, giving her a kiss at the same time (which would be the photo that Loke would later use), the surrounding woods lit up and hidden family members and friends came out to see and congratulate them. Just before the first of them reached them, Natsu leaned in close to whisper to Lucy, "You know, I'm glad you said yes, because I couldn't help falling in love with you."

**The whole I didn't know how special line I actually came up with while writing Chapter 4, so I made a note of it so I wouldn't forget it. I decided on what the last line would be in Chapter 5, knowing that I was going to use that song to have him ask her to be his girlfriend and I wanted him to tie in that moment with the proposal, because I'm sappy I guess XD Originally he was going to say it right after she accepted the proposal, but I hadn't actually worked out the scene yet so yeah XD I know this chapter is super short compared to the rest, but I really want this to be the way to tie up this part of the story.**

**Kind of funny to me/not really necessary to share, but the last story I wrote with FT characters, Scattered Memories, also ended up being 7 chapters long, with the 7****th**** chapter acting as a way to tie up the story. It wasn't done on purpose, but I just had to say it because I found it so funny/strange that I did it without trying. **

**And after writing the above section I ended up writing a SEQUEL to this story, so be on the lookout for All My Dreams Fulfilled!**

**Answers to Reviews!**

**FTAnt: hehe yep you won the talent show :D I'm glad you loved this story :D**


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